Canning beans & beef

I was able to get a 2 lb bag of Northern beans on sale for $1, so I thought I would try canning them up to have on hand for quick use.  I was surprised that it produced 8 pints.  I also got some good beef roast on sale, so I bought two, one to eat and one to can.  My first attempt at that too.  Five pints of cubed beef roast.



2012 canning:

16 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
21 24oz spaghetti sauce
6 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
20 1/2pt pizza sauce
5 pints salsa
4 1/2pt bell peppers
3 1/2pt chili peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce
7 pints diced applies
8 pints northern beans
5 pints beef roast

= 134 jars of food preserved for later

My baby is 4!

We recently celebrated my youngest daughter's birthday!  She is four now!!

She was very excited to get the Mickey Mouse kitchen that she had wanted for a few months now.  And after we got that all set up we went rollerskating.  That was also by request of the birthday girl.  And the day was topped off with an Angry Bird cake!!

Several times she told me that it was the best birthday she has ever had!  The smiles said it all!!

Canning diced apples

Picked some apples off a friend's tree last month that she didn't want.  The kids ate quite a few and I decided to can some diced in a very light syrup and see how the kids like them in the middle of the winter.

7 pints diced apples

2012 canning:

16 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
21 24oz spaghetti sauce
6 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
20 1/2pt pizza sauce
5 pints salsa
4 1/2pt bell peppers
3 1/2pt chili peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce
7 pints diced applies

= 121 jars of food preserved for later

Canning pizza sauce

Made a batch of pizza sauce:

20 half pints



2012 canning:


16 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
21 24oz spaghetti sauce
6 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
20 1/2pt pizza sauce
5 pints salsa
4 1/2pt bell peppers
3 1/2pt chili peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 114 jars of food preserved for later

More spaghetti sauce!

I was able to can another batch of spaghetti sauce this weekend.

5  24oz jars


2012 canning:


16 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
21 24oz spaghetti sauce
6 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
5 pints salsa
4 1/2pt bell peppers
3 1/2pt chili peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 94 jars of food preserved for later

Canning Salsa

I wasn't going to make any salsa this year, but as you can see I changed my mind.  I made a big batch and we used about half of it at a get together and I canned the rest.

5 pints salsa


2012 canning:

16 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
16 24oz spaghetti sauce
6 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
5 pints salsa
4 1/2pt bell peppers
3 1/2pt chili peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 89 jars of food preserved for later

Canning Spaghetti Sauce Again!

I canned another batch of spaghetti sauce up last night:

7  24oz jars
1 pint jar


2012 canning:


16 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
16 24oz spaghetti sauce
6 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
4 1/2pt bell peppers
3 1/2pt chili peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 84 jars of food preserved for later

I am feeling really good about the amount of food I have put away this year.  I will have a few more batches to do yet before the move. 

Canning - more potatoes & peppers

I dug the last of the potatoes and fried up a big batch of the little ones for supper yesterday but there were still some little ones left so I canned them and all the peppers that were ready too.

3 pints potatoes
3 1/2 pt chili peppers


2012 canning:


16 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
9 24oz spaghetti sauce
5 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
4 1/2pt bell peppers
3 1/2pt chili peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 76 jars of food preserved for later

Canning More Spaghetti Sauce

I had another batch of tomatoes ready, so that means more spaghetti sauce.

Spaghetti Sauce:
5 24oz jars
1 pt jar


2012 canning:


13 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
9 24oz spaghetti sauce
5 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
4 1/2pt bell peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce


= 70 jars of food preserved for later

Canning Spaghetti Sauce

Found a new recipe for spaghetti sauce and when we were taste testing it we gave it a thumbs up!

4 - 24oz  jars
1 - 1/2pt jar


2012 canning:
13 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
4 24oz spaghetti sauce
4 pt spaghetti sauce
2 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
4 1/2pt bell peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 64 jars of food preserved for later

Canning more Ketchup

Last time I canned ketchup I put about 4oz in the fridge and the kids and I tried it and we all thought it was great!  So I made more!

Today's ketchup  10 - 12oz jars & 1 8oz jar.


2012 canning:


13 pints potatoes
8 pints corn
10 3/4 pt ketchup
12 1/2pt ketchup
4 pt spaghetti sauce
1 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
4 1/2pt bell peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 59 jars of food preserved for later

Canning Corn

I have always frozen my sweet corn and I love it that way.  However, I am out of freezer space, so I canned some corn and we will see how we like it. 

8 pints of sweet corn


2012 canning:
13 pints potatoes
8 pints corn

11 1/2pt ketchup
4 pt spaghetti sauce
1 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
4 1/2pt bell peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 48 jars of food preserved for later

Canning Spaghetti Sauce

Canning for today:

Spaghetti Sauce   4 pints and 1 half pint

Canning for 2012:

13 pints potatoes

11 1/2pt ketchup
4 pt spaghetti sauce
1 1/2pt spaghetti sauce
4 1/2pt bell peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

= 40 jars of food preserved for later

I have started another blog!

I have officially started another blog which will be all about our new journey on our little homestead.
Here it is:

http://footprintsofsustainability.blogspot.com/


Here is a picture of the south of the house with the driveway finally finished!  That was a lot of rock to get all raked out the way we wanted but it is very fulfilling to see it finally done.  My goal is to be completely moved in by October 1st.

Canning Ketchup

Tried my hand at making ketchup today for the first time and it turned out really good!

Canning today:
11 1/2 pt  Ketchup


Canning for 2012:

13 pints potatoes
11  1/2pt ketchup
4 1/2pt bell peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

Canning - Potatoes & Peppers

It was nice to be able to harvest food from my own garden and have enough
to eat fresh and put away some for the winter!

Canning for today:
5 pints potatoes
4 1/2pt bell peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers


Canning for 2012:
13 pints potatoes
4 1/2pt bell peppers
2 1/4pt chili peppers
3 pints grape juice
2 1/2 pt nectarine sauce

Garden Pics 7/28/12

Here are pictures of my new garden at the acreage.
All taken on 7/28/12

the whole 20'x60'

 Corn

 1 Bushel gourd plant

 2 watermelon plants



Plus 20 tomato plants, 13 potato plants, 3 pepper plants, 2 cucumber plants, and a row of peas!

A little break

Obviously in this season of my life I don't really have the time to post all of my purchases.  I started doing this to keep myself accountable to keeping my purchases as low as I could.  But now with trying to get the house out at the acreage remodeled enough so that we can start moving.  So, what I have done is to hang a paper on the fridge and whenever I come in with a purchase I write all the info down on the paper.  This is how I will keep doing it until I need to change again. 

I doubt anyone is missing seeing those posts, but in case somone was wondering what was going on I thought I would let you know. 

After the move and completion of the house, I hope to have time to post regularly again.  And I hope to share some pictures too.

Fleet Farm $38.42

2 dozen pint jars 7.69 sale
2 3pks (32ct) finish diswasher packs 11.88 sale
1 fels-naptha bar soap 0.97

$40.11 + 2.81 tax = $42.92 Total

-3.00/2 cases Kerr jars coupon
-0.75 finish coupon
-0.75 finish coupon

$38.42  PAID

Fareway $5.36

Blue Bunny ice cream 2.99 sale
AE Lemonade 0.99 sale
ActII popcorn 3 pk 0.99 sale
green grapes 0.89 sale

$5.86
-.50 Act II popcorn coupon
$5.36 PAID

Hy-Vee $13.89

watermelon 2.88 sale
3 Pillsbury brownie mix 1.19 sale
3 85% ground beef 2.48 sale

$13.89

Potatoes from the Garden

When I was growing up the first meal from the garden was always creamed potatoes and peas.  It was a much anticipated meal and we would all eat until we were so full we couldn't stand to put anything else in our mouths.

Well, since I bought the acreage, I finally have a garden!!  I was too late to plant peas but I got potatoes in the ground.  So, I was hoping since the potato plants had grown quite large and bloomed nicely that there would be some small potatoes down there for me to dig out.  So I carefully dug out half of one plant and got these 8 small potatoes.  I am so happy to get these out and will be creaming them up tonight for supper.

Nectarine sauce

The kids hadn't eaten up the nectarines yet and they were getting soft so I cut them in half, pitted, skinned, cooked them down into sauce form.  Then I poured them into two 1/2 pint jars and canned them up!

Canning trial - Easy Grape Juice

My neighbor brought over some grapes that she said she wasn't going to eat before she left on vacation.
My kids weren't eating them so I decided to try my hand at making some easy grape juice that I had heard about on several canning sites. 

Here is what I did:

I put 1/2 cup of washed grapes into each pint jar.  Then I took three cups of water and stirred 3/4 cup of sugar until dissolved.  I poured that equally into the three jars and added plain water up to the neck of the jar.  I wiped the rim of the jar and added my lids.  Then I put them in my water bath canner and brought it up to a boil and continued to boil them for 20 minutes. 

Now the hardest part is to wait a few weeks before opening and trying the "juice".   And if we like it, I will be doing this every year when my grapes are ready.

Aldi $5.26

Took a quick stop at Aldi yesterday to grab some great fruit deals.

3 green apples .33 ea
3 limes .39 ea
4 lemons .28 ea
6 nectarines 0.33 ea

$5.26

Aldi $16.64

Milk 2.89
chicken nuggts 3.99
tator tots 1.89
2 lemonade concentrate .79
salt 0.35
strawberries 0.99
5 chicken cordon bleu 0.99

$16.64

Hy-Vee $14.73

Sorry this was from a little while ago, I've just been so busy.

2 Hunts ketchup 0.69 sale
seedless watermelon 3.88 sale
milk 3.69
2 Oscar Mayer hot dogs 0.89 sale
2 chunk cheese 2.00 sale

$14.73

Menards $20.70

1/2 gal Ball jars 8.99 sale
pint wm Ball jars 7.99 sale
1/4 pint Ball jars 6.49 sale
baggy rack 2.99 sale
Glad freezer bags 2.89 sale

$29.35 + 1.35 tax = 30.70 Total
-10.00 menards rebate check
$20.70 PAID

I Bought an Acreage!!!!

I have been pretty MIA from posting and reading everyone's blogs lately.  If anyone was wondering why,  it's because I bought an acreage!!!  And I am so super excited about it!!!  We will be able to be so much more self sufficient out there.  And the kids will have so much room to play outside and they will be able to get a dog once we move!!!  They are really excited about it too!!!  But for me to be able to afford an acreage I had to get a fixer upper, so we have quite a bit of work ahead of us!  But I know in the long run it will be so worth it!   So please excuse me when I go MIA off and on.

Fareway $5.68

potato chips 1.29
1/2 gal milk 1.55
2 pasta 0.88 sale
big jello pudding 1.08

$5.68

Aldi $7.00

bread 0.89
cantaloupe 1.29
strawberries 1.19
2 apple juice 0.92
cheese 1.79

$7

Fareway $17.31

2 chips 0.88 sale
2 1/2 gal milk 0.99 sale
3 Kraft mac n cheese 3/$2 sal
4 ketchup 0.67 sale
3 John Morrell hot dogs 0.88 sale
5 shredded cheese 1.25 sale

$17.31

HyVee $ 9.45

3 lbs 85 % ground beef 2.48 sale
3 blue bonnet sticks 0.67 sale

$9.45

Fareway $5.70

C& H sugar 1.98 sale
Kraft milkbite 1.99 sale
bananas 0.59/lb = 0.73
Pillsbury cinnamon rolls 2.00 sale

$6.70
-1.00 Kraft milkbite coupon
$5.70 PAID

Fareway $14.36

Milk 1.79
chips 1.29
2 Knorr pasta sides 1.00 sale
3 Oscar Mayer bacon 2.50 sale
eggo noodles 0.99
easter Nerds .79 sale

$14.36

Target $12.69

Pull-ups 9.49
facial tissue 0.94
tampons 4.39
matches 0.97

$15.79 + 0.83 tax = $16.62 TOTAL

-2.00 target pullups coupon
-0.50 target tissue coupon
-0.75 target tampon coupon
-0.63 redcard discount
-0.05 reusable bag discount

$12.69 PAID

Fareway $16.67

potato chips 1.29
5 pk Kraft mac n cheese 3.88 sale
Blue Bunny ice cream 2.50sale
6 8oz cheese 1.50 sale

$16.67

Fareway $4.18

Sorry I have been MIA for awhile. I have been BUSY!!!

I stopped at Fareway for a few groceries today:

2 lbs Strawberries 1.48/lb sale
6 bananas 0.44/lb = 1.22

$4.18

Aldi $10.29

Milk 2.75
2 cheese 1.79
4 chicken cordon bleu 0.99

$10.29

Fareway $9.31

5 Kraft mac n cheese shapes 0.99 sale
Wonderbread 1.50 sale
Sunbelt fruit & grain bars 1.67 sale
Carnation evaporated milk 1.19 sale
$9.31

HyVee $ 4.14

2 doz large eggs 1.39
2.6lb green seedless grapes 1.00/lb sale = 2.60

$ 5.38
-1.24 hyvee egg flyer coupon
$4.14

Fareway $5.04

Dole Broccoli florets 1.99 sale

Dole baby carrots 0.98 sale

maple flavoring 1.49

green apple 0.58

$5.04

Canning potatoes

My first time using my new pressure canner.

8 pints of potatoes

Pressure canner $26.54!!!

I bought a 23 qt Presto Pressure Canner from Amazon.

It was priced at $81.54 with free shipping.

However I didn't want to pay that, so I used a $50 giftcard from MyPoints and a $5 giftcard from Swagbucks!

So I paid $26.54

HyVee $23.50

5 Hi-C juice boxes 0.99 sale
2 Kellogg's Krave cereal 2.50 sale
Hungry Jack shredded potatoes 1.69
3 Banquet meals 0.68 sale
4 85% ground beef 2.88 sale

$25.20 Total
-0.70 in ad Hungry Jack potatoes coupon
-1.00/2 Kellogg's Krave coupon

$23.50 PAID

Fareway $22.90

8 cup bag shredded Mozzarella cheese 6.99
4.46 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast 1.88/lb sale = 8.38
3 Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix 3/$4 sale
2 Carnation evap. milk 1.19 sale
3 apples 1.15

$22.90

Tattler lids

My special purchase of Tattler reusable canning lids came!!!

It was a very good deal. 100 regular size lids and 100 wide mouth lids for $85

Family Dollar $3.84

4 2liter Coke 1.35

$5.40 + 0.20 deposit + 0.24 tax = $5.84 Total

-2.00 in ad coupon (0.85 Coke, limit 4)

$3.84 PAID

I love Coke, but I try not to buy it often. But I couldn't pass up a good deal like this!

Fareway $13.37

chips 1.89
2 AE chip dip 0.69
Planters peanuts 2.79 sale*
4 Oscar Meyer bacon 2.79 sale*
3 nectarines 1.43

$18.65 Total

-0.90 Fareway chip coupon
-0.38 Fareway A&E dip coupon
-4.00 Fareway $4 off 5 specific items*

$13.37 PAID

Free Tablet

This is my NEW 7" Coby Kyros that I got for FREE!!!!
I am a NCP Online panelist, which means I scan my purchases and transmit the data to them every week and they in turn reward me with points. I saved up my points for approx. 18 months and then redeemed them for this! When I redeemed it said to allow 6-8 weeks for processing. But eight days later I was surprised to find this at my door.